Glenn Whelan: ‘I Have Not Seen The Ramsey Tackle Again. If It Came On, I Would Probably Turn The TV Off’

Stoke City’s Glenn Whelan has rightly been praised for comforting the stricken Aaron Ramsey after he broke his leg last weekend. He was close to the incident, but still, several players who might have done the same walked away in shock or complained to the referee (see Sol Campbell).

Today Whelan spoke about the trauma of seeing such a bad injury on the field of play.

“I was the next one in from the tackle, and saw what had gone on,” Whelan is quoted as saying in the Guardian. “I was just trying to take the lad’s mind off it. It was the first time I had seen it [such a bad injury], and touch wood it will never happen again.

“I was just there, and if I was on the other side of the pitch, I would probably have not gone anywhere near him. I was just trying to do what I could to take the lad’s mind off it. The lad held on to me with the pain he was going through, and I was telling him not to think about it. He was in a state of shock. The medical team came on as quickly as possible, and then you just let them take over.

“First and foremost, everyone hopes the young lad gets back as soon as possible, and at the standard he plays at, because he looks a terrific player. As for Shawcross, he was disappointed what has happened to the boy.

“I do not think anyone goes into a tackle looking to break a leg or injure a player, but there is fine line between being hard and being dirty. The two players could go in for that tackle 100 times again and nothing would happen. Hopefully this was just a one-off.”

Whelan comforts Aaron Ramsey

Whelan also revealed that he has not seen any footage of the incident, nor does he wish to.

“You have got young people watching the game live, who probably could not stomach something like this, and so they were probably right not to show it again at the time,” the Irish international said. “I have not seen the tackle again, and if it came on, I would probably turn the television off.”

In football, doing the right thing should be praised as much as bad play deserves to be slammed. Whelan did the right thing. Hats off to him.

5Comments

Thought at the time Campbell was out of order. Vermaelen was gutted, almost losing it – and it was left to Clichy to try and compose him? Meanwhile, what’s “The Voice of Experience” Sol Campbell doing? Is he comforting Ramsey? No, he’s yelling at the ref WHO HAS ALREADY SENT OFF SHAWCROSS and getting in the face of Shawcross, screaming and swearing at him.

Sorry, but what good does that do? Is the ref gonna go “No, Sol you’re right, I’ll send him off again”

For someone who is supposed to be setting an example, Campbell has done a terrible job since his return to Arsenal.